Production and Composition of Cultivar Mulato <i>Bachiaria</i> I and II Hybrids Inoculated with Mycorrhizal and <i>Trichoderma harzianum</i>

Abstract

Dry Matter production (DM), Crude Protein (CP), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) and Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) content, In Vitro Dry Matter Digestibility (IVDMD), and absorption of nutrients of the cultivars Mulato I and II of Brachiaria hybrids in response to the application of the fungi micorriza and Trichoderma harzianum in El Zamorano, Honduras, were evaluated. Thirty two plots of 3 × 5 m were established and harvested every 21 days. Conidia of T. harzianum in the soil were counted once a month during the first three months and the amount of spores and the percentage of infection of the roots with micorriza were evaluated once in the third month after the sowing. According to the soil analysis, urea was applied every second cut to an equivalent of 150 kg N/ha/year. A completely randomized design with four replicates was used. The data was analyzed using a factorial design where the main factor was the variety of the grass (Mulato I vs. Mulato II) and the second factor was the application of biofertilizers (micorriza and T. harzianum). Repeated measurements in time for DM production and the amount of conidia of T. harzianum were used. DM production was similar (P>0.05) in both cultivars (117 kg/ha/day and 111 kg/ha/day for Mulato I and II, respectively) and in both treatments. The treatment with T. harzianum + Micorriza had the lower yield (107.1 kg/ha/day). The contents of NDF (50.5 %), ADF (29.2 %) and the IVDMD (60.3 %) were similar in both cultivars. The CP content was greater in Mulato II (15.1 % versus. 12.6 %). The absorption of nutrients was similar in both grasses except for zinc and nitrogen which were higher in Mulato

Key words: Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF); Crude Protein (CP); Dry Matter production (DM); in vitro Dry Matter Digestibility (IVDMD); Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF).

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/ceiba.v47i1-2.444

Ceiba, 2006. Volumen 47(1-2):25-32